Wire-fence machine.



Patented my' s,l |901.

W. M. CHEW. w||n= France mAcHlN'E.

(Appumcu med nu. 2e, 1901. (lo lodel.)

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. CREW, OE NEAR PETERSBURG, INDIANA, A'ssIGNOR OE ONE HALE To JOSEPH L. ROBINSON, OE PETERSBURG, INDIANA.

f' wlRE-FENO MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,160, cated. July 9, 1901.

Application iile'd March 26,1901. Serial No. 52,991. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM CHEW, a citizen of the United States, residing near Petersburg, in the county of Pike and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Wire-Fence Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire-fence machines, and has for its object to provide an improved machine for twisting stays or pickets upon the runner-wires which have been set up or secured to posts. It is furthermore designed to facilitate the application of the machine to the fence and'to provide for the convenient adjustment of the device to twist the staysvfor the entire lengths thereof and to arrange for preventing the stays from becoming entangled with the twisting mechanIsm.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown inthe accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details mayv be made within the scope of the claims Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. v

In the drawings, Figure l is a side'elevation of the present machine applied to a portion of a fence. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional vieW taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.' Fig. 3 `is a detail sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l.` Fig. 4 is va detail perspective view of the frame 4for carrying the twisting mechanism. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the means for holding the-upper end of the stay to bey twisted.

ALike characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlngs- 1 j',

In carrying out the present invention there is provided an upright or standard-lgpi'eferably in the form of a polygonal Wooden post or bar, which is provided upon one face with a plurality of inclined notches to form ratchetshoulders 2, and thereby provide the standard with a rack. The upper end of the stand= 1 ard is provided with a plurality of transverse perferatiee annee longitudinally, ae indil cated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, for the adjustable 4reception of a transverse arm 3, having an intermediate stop-shoulder 4 anda termi- 55 nal nut 5, whereby the rod or arm is rigidly :connected to theY standard.` It will be obwill be hereinafter explained.

V:Upon the intermediate portion of the stand- I Y ard there is slidably mounted a tubular or box-like bracket 7,1whicl1 loosely fits the standard, so as to be capable of a slight lateral movement, but is prevented from turning upon the standard by reason oflits polygonalshape. Apendentspring-tongue 8,asbest 7o shown in Fig.` 3, is carried by the back of the bracket and is in frictional engagement with the smooth back of the standard, so as to yieldingly hold the lower front 'edge of the r bracket in engagement with one of the shoulders of the rack, and thereby adj ustably support the bracket upon the standard. It will now be' apparent that the lateral-,movement of the bracket is designed to permit of the disengagement of the bracket from the ratchet- 8o shoulders. A longitudinally-slotted frame 9 -is slidably carriedby4 the bracket, the front J of the latter being provided with an intermediate longitudinal rib or projection 10, that is slidably received Within the slot of the frame, y

said slot being longer than the rib in order that 5 the frame may be slid endwise in opposite din rections transversely across the standard..I Af- 1 ter the frame has been applied to the bracket a'pair of cleats 1l are secured to the outer side 9o of the rib,with their opposite ends overlapping the frame, so as to prevent lateral displacement `thereof and form a guide therefor. As indicated'in Fig.- l, theframe projects iat Opposite sides of thev standard andiacross the shouldered face thereof, there' being a laterally-enlarged base projection 12,'which is provided with a longitudinal bifurcation 13, ter- `minating at its inner end in an enlarged cir-- cular perforation 14, as shown in Fig. 4.

` The twisting mechanism comprises a horizontal beveled gear 15, having a journal 16,

that is rotatably mounted in the perforation 14; of the frame, the gear lying upon the upper side of the base extension and having a radial substantially V-shaped slot 17, that extends into the journal and has its opposite edges inclined or converged inwardly. Upon the upper edge oi' the frame, which is dished or con caved,there is mounted a rotatable shaft 18, held to the frame by means of the bearing-straps 19, that embrace the shaft and the opposite sides of the frame. The ends of the shaft project in opposite directions beyond the respective ends of the frame, and at its outer end there is provided a crank-handle 20, and at the opposite end there is provided an upstanding beveled gear 21 in mesh with the other gear 15. At the forward'end of the frameand rising above the gear 21 there is an upright 22, to the upper end of whichA is pivotally connected an arm 23, which normally hangs downwardly across the outer face of the gear 21 and is provided at its lower free extremity with a fork 24.

In using the machine as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, to twist a stay-wire 25 upon the runner-wires 26 the standard is placed alongside of the fence and a doubled stay-wire is placed astraddle of the runner-wires, with its upper end engaged with the hook or wire clamp 6, after which the frame 9is slid endwise, so as to receive the stay-wire within the bifurcations of the gear 15 and the base ex- 'tension 12, the forked arm 23 then being swung over the gear 21 and then downwardly to receive the stay-wire within the fork, and finally the crank-handle is operated to turn the gears, and the opposite portions of the doubled stay-wire are twisted together between adjacent runner-wires. After the stay has been sufficiently twisted the frame 9 is slid rearwardly to disengage the twisting-gear from the stay, and the bracket is slid upon the standard to bring the frame between the next adjacent runner-wires, after which the twisting-gear is again engaged with the stay, these operations being repeated until the entire length of the stay has been twisted.

The purpose of the pivotal forked arm23 is to form a guard to prevent the adjacent upper portion of the stay-wire from becoming entangled in the gears andl to maintain the stay. in proper alinement with the center of the horizontal twisting-gear.

It will be understood that the stay is formed from a doubled wire, the bend of which em.- braces the lowermost runnerwire,with itsopposite sides extending upwardly at opposite sides of the runner-wires and projecting above the latter. The adjacent portion of the stay is received within a vertical transverse groove or seat 27, formed in the arm 3, which bears terminally against the uppermost runnerwire, and the hook-shaped clamp is swung downwardly, so as to engage over the runnerwire, whereby the latter is clamped between the hook and the outer end of the arm 3, so as to prevent outward displacement of the crneo machine. The hook, furthermore, has a lateral projection 28, which engages the farther side ot' the outer portion of the stay or picket to hold the latter tightly against the runnerwu'e.

What is claimed is I 1. A wire fence machine, comprising a standard having a rack, a tubular or box-like bracket slidably mounted upon the standard and in adjustable interlocked engagement with the rack, a frame carried by the bracket and slidable transversely of the standard, and twister mechanism carried by the frame.

2. A wire fence machine, comprising a standard, a bracket adjustable longitudinally thereon, a frame slidable transversely of the standard and carried by the bracket, one end of the frame having a longitudinal bifurcation, the inner end of which terminates in an enlarged circular perforation, a substantially horizontal beveled twister-gear, having a journal that is rotatably mounted in the perforation, there being a radial slot in the gear and extended into the journal thereof, a rotatable shaft mounted upon the frame, a beveled gear upon one end of the shaft and in mesh with the twister-gear, and a crankhandle at the opposite end ot the shaft.

3. A wire fence machine, comprising a standard, a bracket, which is adjustable lon= gitudinally upon the standard, and has an intermediate outwardlydirected rib extended transversely of the standard, a frame having a longitudinal slot slidabl'y receiving the projected rib and of greater length than the same, one or more cleats or projections sejcuredto the rib and overlapping the slotted edges of the frame, and twister mechanism carried by the frame.,

4. In a wire-fence machine, the combina `tion with a support, of a rotatable radiallyslotted twister beveled gear, operating mech; anism having a beveled gear in meshwith the twister, a supporting-arm carried by the support and projected beyond the peripheral edge of the beveled gear, and a guard-arm pivotally connected to the outer end of the former arm, and having its free extremity provided with a fork, the pivotal arm being normally extended across the adjacent peripheral edge of the beveled gear with the fork in alinement with the inner end portion of the slot in the twister.

5. A wire-fence machine, comprising a standard, having ratchet-shoulders formed ieg iid

Iig

IZO

upon the front face thereof, a tubular bracket slidably embracing the standard, and having a spring frictiona'lly engaging the back of the standard to draw the lower edge of the bracket into engagement with the respective shoulders of the standard, and twister mechanism carried by the bracket.

6. A wire -fence machine, comprising a standard, a lateral arm at the upper end thereof, and havinga wire-clamp, a bracket adjustable longitudinally upon the standard,

a frame carried by the bracket and adjust- 'able transversely of the standard in the direc-y tion of the lateral arm, and twister mechanism mounted upon the frame, and having a twister element alined with the wire-clamp 5 upon the lateral arm. l

7. A wire-fence machine, having a lateral arm provided with an outer terminal notch for the reception of a stay or picket, and a pivotal hook projected beyond the outer end of the arm, and having a lateral projection 1o to engage the opposite side of the picket.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses. 4

WILLIAM M. CHEW;

Witnesses:

O. O. SMITH WILLIAM LBs. 

